It's no secret that the amount of tools to display and do history has vastly expanded with the use of technology, mainly through digital tools on the internet. The main purpose of this week's assignment for Digital Humanities, I feel, was to start acquainting us with those tools and perhaps bring to question why there are so many that do very similar things, but in their own distinct ways. Of the five different tools that we had to review for class, one theme came out of all of them: making history visual through technology. Most of these manifested in maps and timelines that utilized multimedia sources, integrating basic historical knowledge, archival material, and the physical landscape of specific areas. While these tools, as I'm sure we will discuss in class, can be problematic and each one has its assorted pros and cons, I believe it is an excellent example of how history is one of the most approachable fields for the general public to enjoy. This practice is not new; William Cronon, in his article "Getting Ready To Do History," (Link to Article) asserts historian's use of ordinary vocabulary and accessible language, which allows the texts to have a higher readership from outside the academy than other disciplines. The use of technology is just an extension and continuation of this.

That being said, delving into the world of technology can be scary, confusing, and daunting. Today, I spent a good few hours just trying to figure out how to create a new HTML file. Apparently you can do this by using any basic word processor. I kind of cheated and just copied the index file from the WAMP Server and worked from there. My own skills in terms of using HTML are extremely limited to what I have picked up over the years to edit specific things (usually only text-based documents for game design), and I still am not sure (and very intimidated by) the concept of creating a viable webpage that looks professional to some degree and can do more than just be a wall of text. I'm still trying to figure out how to center words using HTML and I got way too excited this afternoon when I figured out how to insert gif images into an HTML page. I'll put a copy of my own HTML page below just to prove how basic it is (and also for my own personal bragging rights to say I kind of did something with technology that required HTML). I'm even still trying to fully comprehend how, after the page is designed, it can go online and be presentable for everyone else to see. Naturally, my first inclination is to use other sites that host webpages, such as Google Sites and the like, but any actual webpage creation outside of that is a sheer mystery. Luckily, Digital Humanities is about testing, failing, trying again, and eventually learning how to use these tools. In a way, the knowledge of how to use technology is empowering; the vast amount of uses for one small aspect of design, such as the knowledge of HTML, is staggering. And, when one tool doesn't exactly fulfill a need, there is always the ability to start again, find something new, and learn about it. Perhaps that is why there are so many different kinds of tools to create and view visual history using technology. It ultimately expands and transforms the way we complete scholarship and research and present public history. They test not only the bounds of our knowledge but of our own imagination. It can be frustrating at times, but it truly is powerful.

And now, as promised...